The season certainly hasn't gone as we expected with a team that didn't deliver and has largely had to be taken apart and rebuilt with loans temporarily. No cup run as per normal but we all hoped for something new, after raising so much in boost the budget only to lose Styche & Syers to try and balance the budget.

Looking at this season v's last season then Christmas has put us in a slightly better situation.

Season 17/18P25 W6 D7 L12 F31 A40 D-9 Pts25 (Attendance Average at this point 1,566)

Season 18/19P25 W7 D9 L9 F41 A43 D-2 Pts30 (Attendance Average at this point 1,422)

So all in all we are actually in a better position points wise and probably financially than we were at this point last season. We are certainly still underachieving but I guess the hope is that we push in into the mid table area and remove ourselves from a relegation battle.

The worry is with the squad being quite thin and filled with loans we have no guarantee that we are on an upward trajectory. It's easy to imagine us hitting a run of defeats and spiralling towards the bottom three. We turn up each week wondering which Darlo will turn up, the one that can battle and boss a game or the one that will sit back and be like a rabbit in the headlights when the opposition attack.

I will take a win one lose one type scenario and finishing mid table again on about 55 points. Over to Wright to ensure we don't slip into the danger zone.

Personally I absolutely no problem with loan players coming into the club .This is something we should have been doing for years to be honest.As long as they prove to be as good or better than we already have then it’s a no brainer.The lads that we have in at the moment have been well worth having with the bonus of us not having to pay them and as they are youth loans we keep them for as long as we want.The shame is that the management took as long as it did to use the system.

Personally I absolutely no problem with loan players coming into the club .This is something we should have been doing for years to be honest.As long as they prove to be as good or better than we already have then it’s a no brainer.The lads that we have in at the moment have been well worth having with the bonus of us not having to pay them and as they are youth loans we keep them for as long as we want.The shame is that the management took as long as it did to use the system.

Would have possibly placed less strain on our budget.

_________________"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

So technically we have progressed on field but on the down side slipped on attendances. We have the Spenny game to come so that should boost the attendance average a bit hopefully.

Have we progressed though? Five points is just a difference in a couple of results, which can just as easily be explained by the league being weaker this season.

And let's be fair, last season was pretty dire in the first half of the season, so it's a pretty low base to be comparing it with.

That's not me trying to talk the team and TW down. But it doesn't necessarily mean the team has progressed. As Super_Les says, the number of loans we made to turn things around does distort things a bit.

Due to that poor start we have had to lose Styche/Syers which has weakened the squad but has opened up the loan market now, maybe should have done that before.

The positive Wright has supported the board without kicking off/moaning in ensuring the P&L looks to balance at the end of the season. He has now managed to use the loan market and got some decent players in Nelson, Kokolo, Palmer, Smith & Wollerton.

The next 4 months will be a question of can Wright take what we have now and push on, again the jury is out and it will be a wait and see, mainly because the board have took a punt on Wright keeping us up and therefore not costing us to pay a manager off who is wrapped up in the academy.

Wright seems to be able to get the players in but as most I question him tactically, I do worry he struggles to turn it around with the players he has and seems to need new players to freshen things up.

I guess it's slight progress overall although in fairness off quite a reduced wage bill. There wasn't really a lot of room for error with the summer's recruitment and unfortunately some of the marquee signings Les mentions above have been poor so far.

I'd hope that this is the last season we take chances on players coming back from long term injuries, with the size of squad we have we can't really be carrying any passengers.

Now that Nelson has gone I wonder if he will bring in another loan striker.

I wonder if now that Ainge is fit he will get a run in the team - the partnership with Saunders should compliment - but Ainge is one of those players that seems to be injured continuously so if I decent striker is available I hope Tommy goes for them. I think we have done very well out of the loan market and hopefully Tommy has learned his lesson that we should use it as much as we can.

So technically we have progressed on field but on the down side slipped on attendances. We have the Spenny game to come so that should boost the attendance average a bit hopefully.

Have we progressed though? Five points is just a difference in one or two results, which can just as easily be explained by the league being weaker this season.

And let's be fair, last season was pretty dire in the first half of the season, so it's a pretty low base to be comparing it with.

That's not me trying to talk the team and TW down. But it doesn't necessarily mean the team has progressed. As Super_Les says, the number of loans we made to turn things around does distort things a bit.

Well the facts don't lie but its only halfway through the season, hence the term technically. The first half of the season has been pretty dire too but we don't have a manager who expects the fans to dig deep again to satisfy his ambition, we have one who as Les says, is prepared to work with what he has to make sure the club is solvent. The only way we will know for sure is when the final ball of the season has been kicked and where we end up, both on the field and financially. I would even say that if we finish lower than last season but in a better place financially we will have made progress as a club.

Now that Nelson has gone I wonder if he will bring in another loan striker.

I wonder if now that Ainge is fit he will get a run in the team - the partnership with Saunders should compliment - but Ainge is one of those players that seems to be injured continuously so if I decent striker is available I hope Tommy goes for them. I think we have done very well out of the loan market and hopefully Tommy has learned his lesson that we should use it as much as we can.

Now that Nelson has gone I wonder if he will bring in another loan striker.

I wonder if now that Ainge is fit he will get a run in the team - the partnership with Saunders should compliment - but Ainge is one of those players that seems to be injured continuously so if I decent striker is available I hope Tommy goes for them. I think we have done very well out of the loan market and hopefully Tommy has learned his lesson that we should use it as much as we can.

So technically we have progressed on field but on the down side slipped on attendances. We have the Spenny game to come so that should boost the attendance average a bit hopefully.

Have we progressed though? Five points is just a difference in a couple of results, which can just as easily be explained by the league being weaker this season.

And let's be fair, last season was pretty dire in the first half of the season, so it's a pretty low base to be comparing it with.

That's not me trying to talk the team and TW down. But it doesn't necessarily mean the team has progressed. As Super_Les says, the number of loans we made to turn things around does distort things a bit.

I think you have to take the facts as they are - we are five points better off. Whether the league is stronger or weaker is quite subjective really. Being five points better off doesn't necessarily make us better, but it indicates we're in a stronger position.

The original post states we're in a better position financially - maybe true as we've had a whole year of cutting our cloth accordingly, but the drop in attendances is concerning - our gate has dropped by 10%, which assuming the majority of the drop comes from adult ticket sales (which it may not), means a drop in revenue of about £16k. £30k over the season (assuming we don't see a significant increase) and that explains why Styche and Syers had to move on.

_________________

On Sunday April 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm, Darlo Cockney wrote:

Sadly some people have nothing better to do that invent rumours.

We will be playing at the arena again next season - fact.

Quakerz - if you actually attended games and spoke to people you might actually find our facts, rather than spreading s*** on this board.

We are at a cross roads to be honest and depending on the next 17 league games will depend on how we all view next season.

Wright who has failed in the first half of the season, could possibly fully turn it around and finish decent enough again. I am not convinced this will happen, largely as I don't trust Wright to tactically manage the team, he seems to fall into a winning formation. The old rather be a lucky manager sometimes springs to mind with the way he finds players and formations, seems often fortuitous rather than a plan.

However as mentioned we are better off in terms of points and the belief is we have cut our cloth (twice in terms of start of season and midway), so hopefully end the season with little/no debt and still in the National North - this would be a limited success especially if we are comfortable in mid-table.

The jury is out on Wright and he is battling for his future these next 4 months, he has a lot of convincing to do.

So we had 3 bumper crowds last year, Spen, York and Harrogate (by virtue of being on Boxing day) as opposed to only 1, against York, so far this season.

We're pretty much in the same place, i would say. We're not losing fans, but we're not really gaining any. It's sort of why i'd rather have someone other than Spen and York on boxing day, it's usually a higher crowd anyway, and Spen and York will be higher crowds whenever they're played.

Look the jury is out on a manager constantly a poor run of form and any manager can be sacked so Wright really isn’t any difference.

A good run of games and it just gives him breathing space until the next series of defeats.

As Spyman says the bigger issue is the gates but you know what if people have lost interest then I guess they have lost interest. We continue to provide a product for those who are interested and that is basically what we will always do.

So we had 3 bumper crowds last year, Spen, York and Harrogate (by virtue of being on Boxing day) as opposed to only 1, against York, so far this season.

We're pretty much in the same place, i would say. We're not losing fans, but we're not really gaining any. It's sort of why i'd rather have someone other than Spen and York on boxing day, it's usually a higher crowd anyway, and Spen and York will be higher crowds whenever they're played.

We are at a cross roads to be honest and depending on the next 17 league games will depend on how we all view next season.

Wright who has failed in the first half of the season, could possibly fully turn it around and finish decent enough again. I am not convinced this will happen, largely as I don't trust Wright to tactically manage the team, he seems to fall into a winning formation. The old rather be a lucky manager sometimes springs to mind with the way he finds players and formations, seems often fortuitous rather than a plan.

However as mentioned we are better off in terms of points and the belief is we have cut our cloth (twice in terms of start of season and midway), so hopefully end the season with little/no debt and still in the National North - this would be a limited success especially if we are comfortable in mid-table.

The jury is out on Wright and he is battling for his future these next 4 months, he has a lot of convincing to do.

If we finish in mid-table with an 'ok' second half of the season then it'll be interesting where people stand re: Wright.

To me it will look a bit groundhog day. We finished last season in mid-table, just outside play-offs thanks to improved form in the latter part of the season. This resulted in some confidence in the Manager, leading to some generous fund-raising from the fans to give us another shot this season.

The first half of this season has pretty much led everyone to the conclusion that Wright has wasted the money raised, either through poor recruitment or mismangement of the squad he had recruited.

Even if we finish in a similar position to last season, why should/would the fans believe that the same mistakes won't be made again next season?

Do we back him to have learnt from his mistakes and give him a competitive budget again, or do we tie his hands behind his back with less money raised for the playing budget and accept the almost inevitable consequences?

_________________

On Sunday April 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm, Darlo Cockney wrote:

Sadly some people have nothing better to do that invent rumours.

We will be playing at the arena again next season - fact.

Quakerz - if you actually attended games and spoke to people you might actually find our facts, rather than spreading s*** on this board.

So we had 3 bumper crowds last year, Spen, York and Harrogate (by virtue of being on Boxing day) as opposed to only 1, against York, so far this season.

We're pretty much in the same place, i would say. We're not losing fans, but we're not really gaining any. It's sort of why i'd rather have someone other than Spen and York on boxing day, it's usually a higher crowd anyway, and Spen and York will be higher crowds whenever they're played.

So we had 3 bumper crowds last year, Spen, York and Harrogate (by virtue of being on Boxing day) as opposed to only 1, against York, so far this season.

We're pretty much in the same place, i would say. We're not losing fans, but we're not really gaining any. It's sort of why i'd rather have someone other than Spen and York on boxing day, it's usually a higher crowd anyway, and Spen and York will be higher crowds whenever they're played.

One extra home game played though.

Err.... it's an average figure...

Yep the two figures are average after 13 home games. The season 17/18 finished with 1,459 where we are currently 1,422. I do expect the 1,422 to drop off a little unless Wright gets us on a crazy winning run.

We do however have Spenny at home and BPA on Good Friday, not many teams travel well so don't expect that many more large crowds.

Do we back him to have learnt from his mistakes and give him a competitive budget again, or do we tie his hands behind his back with less money raised for the playing budget and accept the almost inevitable consequences?

Yes this is where we could be heading. I think I will have to support the club by continuing my BTB but I appreciate this scenario won't be for all and I will do it with some reluctance.

Thing is if Wright now turns things around and starts winning, with a team he has put together that is a better market than last season.

He took a while to get that team playing last season with an upturn in fortunes at the end. He took even longer for this group to start playing but admittedly along the way he lost a couple.

Maybe it does just take Tommy about 4 months to get a group playing as a team...guess we will find out over the next few months. Arguably keeping the group that go on that run together in the new season will have a fighting chance of starting where they left off...

Thing is if Wright now turns things around and starts winning, with a team he has put together that is a better market than last season.

He took a while to get that team playing last season with an upturn in fortunes at the end. He took even longer for this group to start playing but admittedly along the way he lost a couple.

Maybe it does just take Tommy about 4 months to get a group playing as a team...guess we will find out over the next few months. Arguably keeping the group that go on that run together in the new season will have a fighting chance of starting where they left off...

But it's not with the group he initially put together. He's needed loan players in order to bail himself out after the shambles of his summer recruitment.

Well, yeah, but even if you use the average figure from 14, rather than 13 games, it doesn't really matter... you divide it by the number of games

My point is that we had 3 bumper home crowds in the first 25 games of last season, due to the make up of the schedule, and only one this time around. So it seems at first glance, naturally, the average will be down. Big bumper crowds that are much higher than normal distort the average.

However, because i'm bored at work, what makes for slightly more concerning reading, is if you read our attendances minus the outliers (So removing York this year, and York, Harrogate and Spenny last year, and then working out the respective averages.... If you do this, we're at;

1,242 (this season, minus the York game)

1,528 (Last season, minus the York, Spenny & Harrogate games)

However, a number of the larger gates from last year came at the beginning of the season when things were still looking relatively rosy, and against Stockport, who we played on a Saturday last year, and they brought a larger following than midweek this year.

Overall, I don't think we need to panic, but we haven't had any real bumper games this year. We're unlikely to get any more beyond Spenny either, although the Hartlepool game might provide an unexpected jump of interest, it's not a league game, so not included in league attendances. We did, of course, have a relatively bumper crowd against Shields for that embarrassment in the FA Cup last year...

It's hard to conclude a lot from this, as there's a lot of factors, so the best measure will be overall at the end of the season, and also mindful of where we finish in the league. I think the board have correctly identified that we need to build attendances at our run of the mill games, and convert semi casual fans into regulars. The flex season tickets are a step in the right direction in this regard, as well as incentives for fans to bring their mates.

So we had 3 bumper crowds last year, Spen, York and Harrogate (by virtue of being on Boxing day) as opposed to only 1, against York, so far this season.

We're pretty much in the same place, i would say. We're not losing fans, but we're not really gaining any. It's sort of why i'd rather have someone other than Spen and York on boxing day, it's usually a higher crowd anyway, and Spen and York will be higher crowds whenever they're played.

If you remove York from this season we are on 1,350 in the league currently.If you remove York, Spenny & Harrogate from last season league and use the whole season without them 3 then it's 1,357.

As you say end of season will tell, I reckon we will be about 100 down on last season, which considering isn't too bad and not a mass reduction of support considering we are on our 2nd challenging season in NLN.

But it's not with the group he initially put together. He's needed loan players in order to bail himself out after the shambles of his summer recruitment.

Once the loan players go back, we're back where we were.

But he brought the loan players in - sorry can’t have it both ways. If TW gets us into or near the playoffs this season I am not sure there can be many lingering complaints.

If he doesn’t then the anti-Wright noise will persist but it has to be on his record that he’s judged. Right now his record is better than His and Gray’s collective effort and for significantly less cost.

If you remove York from this season we are on 1,350 in the league currently.If you remove York, Spenny & Harrogate from last season league and use the whole season without them 3 then it's 1,357.

As you say end of season will tell, I reckon we will be about 100 down on last season, which considering isn't too bad and not a mass reduction of support considering we are on our 2nd challenging season in NLN.

I've just done that again and came out with 1,242 for this year (i'm blaming a slip on the calculator for that), and the same for last year. I'm using the figures of this site, and excluding cups? Of course, that means only an average of ten games from last year, and an average from 13 for this, so that's sort of a product of the different schedules.

Anyway, you can sort of look at individual games and there isn't a huge difference for the run of the mill games. The notable difference is that attendances for average games were higher at the beginning of last season, before the form went to hell. We drew in nearly 1.7k for Gainsborough in midweek, 1.55 against Alfeton, 1.5 against Telford...). Of course, we were just coming off making the playoffs (albeit, of course, not being able to compete in them). Also, the Stockport game provided a large attendance, but was midweek this year, which will have knocked it, particularly the number of travelling fans. Of course, you have to factor how horrible we have generally been at home under TW, which will have had a knock on effect on attendances.

To completely state the obvious;

Winning on the field & attractive fixtures = larger crowdsBad home form / form in general & less attractive fixures = smaller crowds

I don't think we're in imminent danger of losing any more fans, but we're not exactly bringing the lapsed ones back either; but we have taken tentative steps in the right direction.

So we had 3 bumper crowds last year, Spen, York and Harrogate (by virtue of being on Boxing day) as opposed to only 1, against York, so far this season.

We're pretty much in the same place, i would say. We're not losing fans, but we're not really gaining any. It's sort of why i'd rather have someone other than Spen and York on boxing day, it's usually a higher crowd anyway, and Spen and York will be higher crowds whenever they're played.

York would of brought more if they were near the top and playing well

Agreed. I've also suggested in the past that we're suffering from terrible away followings a little as people are turned off by the bad facilities for away fans at BM. When the dust settles on this entire sports village debate, we need to be thinking how we can fund and install improvements at that end. Spending money to make money, if you will. Even when it's unsegregated, it'd be nice to have an option of a terrace at that end, and it should improve the atmosphere and feel of the place also.

If you remove York from this season we are on 1,350 in the league currently.If you remove York, Spenny & Harrogate from last season league and use the whole season without them 3 then it's 1,357.

As you say end of season will tell, I reckon we will be about 100 down on last season, which considering isn't too bad and not a mass reduction of support considering we are on our 2nd challenging season in NLN.

I've just done that again and came out with 1,242 for this year (i'm blaming a slip on the calculator for that), and the same for last year. I'm using the figures of this site, and excluding cups? Of course, that means only an average of ten games from last year, and an average from 13 for this, so that's sort of a product of the different schedules.

Anyway, you can sort of look at individual games and there isn't a huge difference for the run of the mill games. The notable difference is that attendances for average games were higher at the beginning of last season, before the form went to hell. We drew in nearly 1.7k for Gainsborough in midweek, 1.55 against Alfeton, 1.5 against Telford...). Of course, we were just coming off making the playoffs (albeit, of course, not being able to compete in them). Also, the Stockport game provided a large attendance, but was midweek this year, which will have knocked it, particularly the number of travelling fans. Of course, you have to factor how horrible we have generally been at home under TW, which will have had a knock on effect on attendances.

To completely state the obvious;

Winning on the field & attractive fixtures = larger crowdsBad home form / form in general & less attractive fixures = smaller crowds

I don't think we're in imminent danger of losing any more fans, but we're not exactly bringing the lapsed ones back either; but we have taken tentative steps in the right direction.